


1983

by toosolidcuuj



Series: dorktp [11]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: 503week, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Winry, Ed has Opinions, Ed is a crotchety old man, F/F, F/M, Gen, Old!EdWin, Winry is an awesome grandma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 08:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10805286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toosolidcuuj/pseuds/toosolidcuuj
Summary: Winry and her granddaughter come out to each other.





	1983

As a kid I remember hopping out of the car the minute we pulled up to Grandma's house, tearing up the dirt path all the way to the doorstep. This is the first time I've ever been hesitant to open the car door.

Saundra squeezes my shoulder. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” I tell her. “You always make it okay.” I peck her on the lips, though I still have butterflies in my stomach. I can't remember the last time I felt this nervous. I've never brought anyone to meet my grandparents, and I have no idea what they'll make of my having a girlfriend.

We both climb out of the car, and my grandmother steps out on the front porch to meet us.

“Jeanine! You look so beautiful!” She hugs me and asks, “Who've you brought with you?”

“Grandma, this is Saundra.”

She takes a step away from me and shakes Saundra’s outstretched hand. “It's nice to meet you, dear.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Elric,” Saundra says in her politest voice.

She invites us in for sandwiches and asks about school, which is going fine. So is my internship. She and Grandpa don't really understand the field I'm going into, but she's interested in what I have to say about it all the same.

I'm quick to turn the conversation to Saundra, though, because she's an engineer. She's surprised to know how up to date Grandma is on all the latest research.

“My granny worked every day of her life, and so will I. And my husband and I think that if you're not learning every day, you might as well be dead.” The front door opens, and she says, “Speak of the devil.”

“Sorry I'm late,” Grandpa says. “High school research reports are coming up, and of course they left their books stacked open on top of each other, you’d think they were hired to murder the bindings.”

The Risembool Public Library is Grandpa’s baby. When Risembool became a more established city, he advocated for its creation. Forty years later, he’s still running it.

“Well,” says Grandma, “book mercenaries aside, Jeanine’s here.”

I get up to give him a hug. “It’s so good to see you,” he tells me.

“Good to see you, too, Grandpa.”

He asks, “Who’s your friend?”

Saundra smiles uncomfortably at being called my friend, and I smile back reassuringly. I will set my grandparents straight on what exactly our relationship is . . . once Grandpa gets to know Saundra a bit more.

I tell him, “This is Saundra.”

“She’s an engineer,” Grandma adds.

“Oh no,” says Grandpa. “Poor Jeanine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Grandma says testily.

“She’s probably been sitting here for the past half hour, bored to death, while you’re talking shop with Saundra. Good thing I came home to save her.”

Grandma hits him playfully. I say, “It’s never boring listening to Grandma.”

Grandma smiles. “No need to kiss up to me, Jeanine. You already won the award for favorite grandchild.”

“I have to defend my title.”

“So Saundra,” says Grandpa as he sits down with his sandwich, “tell us more about yourself. How does Jeanine know you?”

“I grew up in East City, and I met Jeanine at school.”

“What part of East?”

“By the fire station that used to be an army base.”

Grandpa nods. “It was smart of the city to convert it. That way it actually became useful.”

Saundra seems a little surprised by Grandpa’s politics. “Jeanine said you were a vet.”

“So I have enough experience to know our military hurt more than it helped. Still is hurting, if I’m being honest. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mustang had the old stomping grounds converted in order to hide something. He was always lousy with secret plans.”

Saundra asks, “You knew Fuhrer President Mustang?”

“He was my commanding officer and a major pain in my ass, pardon the language.”

“That’s Ed’s way of saying he misses him,” says Grandma.

“Nonsense. I said that plenty of times when he was alive. To his face, even.”

“They were close.”

“I was close to punching him in the face.”

“May he rest in peace.”

“I’d pay good money to see that.”

Saundra gives me a look that says, _Is your grandpa for real?_ I smile and give a little shrug back.

We start talking about all the other ways East City has changed over the years. Which are the “good” and “bad” parts of town, what the popular restaurants are, the coffee shop chain that’s popping up all over the place.

“Jeanine and I like the local-run place by our apartment best,” Saundra says. “We go there all the time.”

“I didn’t know you two were roommates,” says Grandma.

Saundra looks at me, and I take a deep breath. “Actually, roommates isn’t the best way to put it,” I say. “Saundra’s my girlfriend.”

“That’s great!” says Grandma. “Congratulations!”

“That's nice,” says Grandpa. “Real nice.”

Grandma elbows him. “Ed! Is that all you have to say?”

“What else am I supposed to say?”

“Congratulate them!”

“You already did!”

“She wants to hear it from you! She wants to know you approve!”

“If I _approve_?” Grandpa’s eyebrows rise, and probably his blood pressure as well. He turns to me and says, “Jeanine, you're a grown woman. You don't need approval from some old fogey like me. Your grandma may call me obtuse, but I can read in between the lines. You've been nervous about introducing us to this Saundra, who seems great to me, but even if I didn't like her I'd support you one hundred percent. Or at least eighty-five percent, if she really seemed terrible.”

“Ed!”

“Kidding! I'm kidding!” Once Grandma seems placated, he continues, “But really, Jeanine. You've been acting like you’re scared of what we might think, and frankly I find that insulting. I thought you trusted us better than that.”

“Grandpa, it's not that I don't trust you . . .”

“We just didn’t know whether you’d be comfortable with the idea of two girls being together,” Saundra says.

Grandma and Grandpa share a look. Grandma says, “We must not be doing our job right if you think we might not accept you or anyone you love. We should have made it clear that we’re more than comfortable with two people of any gender loving each other. Did your mother never tell you about me and Paninya?”

“Your friend from Rush Valley? What about h- _ohhh_. You were together?”

Grandma looks a little wistful. “She was my first kiss. And she was a wonderful girlfriend, though it didn't last.”

“What happened?”

“We were teenagers. You know how young people go through relationships. We both moved on, but stayed close friends.”

“Wow,” I say. “I can't believe I didn't know you had a lesbian phase.”

Grandma's smile freezes in place. “It wasn't a phase. I'm attracted to both women _and_ men. The fact that I chose to spend my life with your grandfather doesn't change that.”

“I'm sorry,” I said. “I didn't mean . . .”

“I know you didn't, sweetie,” says Grandma. “A lot of people get confused. But it's a lot simpler than they think.”

“Yeah,” I say, and turn to look at Saundra. I remember our first kiss, the time we spent in the alcove together, and how well our hands fit together. She takes my hand, and it becomes more than a memory. “It really is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy EdWin Day!


End file.
